MEDA/ECDI Pakistan

1. MEDA/ECDI Pakistan Embroidered Garment Value Chain

2. MEDA BACKGROUND • International NGO • Market facilitator • Variety of government and donor funding • MEDA focuses mainly on innovative market development programs • Expertise in integrating disadvantaged, low-income women into viable value chains • Experience in Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Kenya and others

3. Pakistan Context • 165,803,560 (July 2006 est.) • 47 million people living below the poverty line, around 35 million live in rural areas • Gender roles in Pakistan are segregated along the lines of the public and private spheres • Demarcation is largely maintained through the notion of honour. • Male honour is linked to women’s sexual behaviour, which makes women’s sexuality a potential threat to the honour of the man and the family.

4. Pakistan Context • A woman's entry into the public sphere is often interpreted sexually, as looseness or promiscuity, and reflects on the men in her family • The mobility of women is strictly controlled as a result of this socio-cultural norm • Women's non-agricultural informal sector work yields a mean income of Rs 4,667 (US$77) for 161 days of work • The second largest employer of women is the textile and apparel subsector

5. MEDA in Pakistan • MEDA is working in the Multan District in Punjab; Thatta, Badin and Hyderabad (Hala) Districts of interior Sindh; adjacent to Quetta in Balochistan. • Home confinement ranges from 50% to 95% in these areas, with Multan being the most and Quetta the least liberal. • Poverty is extreme; the majority of women are illiterate (e.g., 67% in Multan). • “Behind the Veil” is intended to reduce the poverty of poor homebound women embroiderers by helping them access higher value markets in the embroidered garment subsector.

6. Program Overview • "Behind the Veil": Access to Contemporary Markets for Homebound Women Embroiderers • Pakistani Partner ECDI - Entrepreneurship & Career Development Institute provides technical inputs and expertise • Program focuses on developing the embroidered garment value chain by identifying women who have some mobility and developing them as sales agents.

7. Program Overview • Women sales agents are trained in developing backwards and forward linkages and providing embedded services such as design and quality control, and by giving them access to affluent consumers • Contemporary designs are introduced to the value chain in linking sales agents with formal and traditional “tracer”

8. Goal of Program Impact Goal • Increase incomes for homebound rural embroiderers Value Chain Development Goal • Rural embroiderers sell contemporary hand-embroidered garments to growing urban middle-class markets Program goal • To economically empower poor homebound women embroiderers in three conservative areas of rural Pakistan by enabling them to overcome barriers and participate directly in the embroidered garment value chain.

9. Target Group • At the bottom socio-economic level in Pakistan • Homebound, rural, illiterate and poor • Desire to contribute to family income and well-being of children • Embroidery a recognized skill

10. Market Assessment • 76 Women Entrepreneurs were interviewed: • 10 IT, 20 handicraft (15 manufacturers and 5 non-manufacturers),16 garment (all manufacturers), 20 embroidered garment (12 manufacturers & 8 non manufacturers). • Out of the 76 entrepreneurs interviewed, fifteen owned small enterprises and 61 were micro entrepreneurs (rural and urban).

11. Market Assessment • Interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with BDS providers offered information on the nature of supply. • In Phase One, we interviewed 125 BDS providers: 13 cross sector, 44 garment & embroidered garment, 66 handicraft and 12 IT. • In Phase Two, FGDs were held with 58 of the 125 providers.

12. Subsector Selection Process General criteria was applied to 4 subsectors: • IT, Handicrafts, garments and embroidered garments • Size • Demand and growth potential • Target group involvement • Potential for increased incomes • Employment generation • Organizational core competence

13. Subsector Selection Matrix

14. 1 2 3 Middle/Upper Income Consumers Export market Poor rural/ urban consumers Middle to High End Urban Retail Outlets Middlemen/Shops Exporters Market Agents Wholesalers Subcontract Urban Embroiderers Rural Microentrepreneur Embroiderers High Quality Inputs Low Quality Inputs

15. Value Chain Analysis Interviews conducted with: • 56 Embroiderers • Local NGOs

16. Value Chain Analysis Key Research Questions: • What are the specific demands of middle-class customers in higher value urban markets? • Do embroiderers have the capacity to create products for these contemporary markets? • How are rural embroiderers currently connected to markets? • Does the market channel need to change in order for embroiderers to sell to contemporary markets? • What other constraints limit embroiderers ability to reach high value markets?

19. Value Chain Analysis • 125 BDS providers in the three rural areas and urban centers • Input suppliers • Traders, wholesalers, exporters • Retailers: boutique owners, market shops, stalls, exhibits • Designers

20. Value Chain Analysis • Retailers interested in accessing embroidered garments from rural women if they met design requirements • Designers willing to work with sales agents • Very few existing women sales agents – but they do exist! • Gender and mobility is a constraint but not insurmountable • Relationships are key – between rural embroiderers and sales agents & sales agents and buyers

21. EG Typical Prices *includes stitching cost Middle/Upper Income Consumers Export market Poor rural/ urban consumers 1800 Rs* 1400 Rs* 400 Rs* Middle to High End Urban Retail Outlets Middlemen/Shops Exporters 1250 Rs 1100 Rs 1250 Rs Market Agents Wholesalers 1100 Rs 175 Rs 950 Rs Subcontract Urban Embroiderers Rural Microentrepreneur Embroiderers 125 Rs 750 Rs 750 Rs High Quality Inputs Low Quality Inputs

22. Intervention #1 Recruit and develop women sales agents to provide a package of embedded services to rural embroiderers, offering liaison with urban garment makers and other buyers. • Identify mobile women who have knowledge of embroidery and interested in being sales agents • Build the capacity of new and existing sales agents in areas such as community outreach, sales and marketing, and business development

23. Intervention #2 Develop and strengthen backward and forward market linkages for sales agents. • Assist sales agents to develop contacts with rural embroiderers, input suppliers, urban garment manufacturers, retailers • Facilitate information sharing and introductions among the market players through workshops, meetings of buyers and sales agents, mini exhibitions • Capacity building in marketing, design and quality control through training, mentoring, peer support etc.

24. Intervention #3 Develop mechanism for provision of Product Design services to mobile women sales agents, garment makers, retailers and exporters. • Identify, interview, select and catalogue designers – provide this information to garment makers, buyers and input providers for development of embedded design services to sales agents. • Introduce designers directly to sales agents, and develop models for service delivery and payment. • Design and product development capacity building for sales agents and rural embroiderers through training, mentoring, peer support etc.

25. Challenges Traditionally monopolistic intermediaries have taken advantage of women embroiderers’ immobility. A challenge in the program was to ensure that the female intermediaries did not use their new position to exploit the immobile women. • Two tiers of sales agents developed to ensure access to remote villages - community sales agents buying from producers in the village and selling to local sales agents who then sell in higher value markets. As the community sales agents developed they started to compete with local sales agents which has helped prevent monopolies

26. Challenges Consistent quality control of embroidered goods so that they meet the specifications of buyers • The transactional relationship between sales agents and buyers has reinforced the importance of quality control. • Facilitated the establishment of buying houses by sales agents which serve as a link between the buyers and SAs, providing quality control and brokering services.

27. Challenges Communication and transactions between master designers active in high value urban markets and the rural women were ineffective and expensive. • An intermediate design level – tracer designers – have been linked to the project and participated in capacity building activities. Their contemporary designs sell well in the higher value markets. As they are often located in rural areas, they are a less costly service for the sales agents.

28. Challenges Rising political tensions in Pakistan and the region limits involvement of foreigners. • The program is 100% operated by local people as agents and facilitators and involves low-key day-to-day business activities,